In laser-beam machining apparatus, a laser beam produced by a laser oscillator is deflected by a beam bender and then focused onto a workpiece by a lens.
FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings schematically shows the relationship between the laser oscillator and the beam bender. The laser oscillator, denoted at 20, is supplied with a laser gas through a gas pipe 21 and also with cooling water through a cooling water pipe 22 for cooling the laser oscillator 20 itself and a bender mirror. A laser-beam machining table 23 has a workpiece 27 thereon. A beam bender 24 serves to deflect a laser beam generated by the laser oscillator, in a direction 6 so as to apply the deflected laser beam to the workpiece 27 on the table 23.
In some applications, the laser oscillator should be placed on the righthand side of the beam bender as indicated by the two-dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 6, owing to limitations imposed by the space where the laser-beam machining apparatus is installed and positional limitations of the gas pipe 21 and the cooling water pipe 22.
The beam bender 24 is arranged to bend the laser beam which is applied thereto only in one direction, i.e. Therefore, if the laser oscillator is positioned on the righthand side of the beam bender 24, the beam bender 24 has to be designed again to meet the different positional requirement. However, it is tedious and time-consuming to design and manufacture a beam bender all over again to meet the requirements of a specific location where the laser-beam machining apparatus is placed of time required to customize the beam bender.